William J. Green III

William Joseph Green III (24 June 1938-) was a member of the US House of Representatives (D-PA 5) from 28 April 1964 to 1973 (succeeding William J. Green Jr. and preceding John H. Ware III) and from PA 3 from 1973 to 1977 (succeeding James A. Byrne and preceding Raymond F. Lederer), as well as Mayor of Philadelphia (D) from 7 January 1980 to 2 January 1984, succeeding Frank Rizzo and preceding Wilson Goode.

Biography
William Joseph Green III was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1938, the son of congressman William J. Green Jr.. He was elected to succeed his father to the US House of Representatives in 1964, and he supported the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the Immigration Reform Act of 1965, the Medicare Act of 1965, and other Great Society programs of the 1960s. He was also among the original co-sponsors of the Equal Rights Amendment, and the AFL-CIO and NAACP gave him a 100% rating. He failed in his bid for Mayor of Philadelphia in 1971, and his rival, the conservative law-and-order Mayor of Philadelphia Frank Rizzo, supported his opponent James A. Byrne in a gerrymandered election in 1973; however, Green was elected in a Democratic "blue wave" following the Watergate scandal. In 1976, he left the House in a failed attempt to win Hugh Scott's US Senate seat, but he was elected Mayor of Philadelphia in 1980. He was often forced to make unpopular choices, as he had to balance a $250 million budget deficit inherited from Rizzo. His battles with labor unions, the City Council, campaign donors, and the media sapped his morale, and he decided to leave office in 1984, instead becoming a lawyer, restauranteur, and a lobbyist in northern Virginia.